In A Mother's Arms
by Super Chino
Summary: A real mother's true love is shown when Ryan's old world and new world collide in an unexpected way.


This was a stray thought that's been in my head way too long! So I thought I'd put it down. I do so love Kirsten and Ryan time! Enjoy! : )   
  
Ryan nervously paced the living room floor. He hadn't seen his mother in a few weeks and the thought of seeing her today left him filled with anxiety. She was only supposed to drop off some signed papers but he wished had somewhere else to be to avoid being there when she arrived. Living with the Cohens had introduced him to an entirely different way of life. The idea of his old life infringing on his new life was simply unsettling. If it were up to him, he'd never let the two cross paths. His heart skipped a beat when the doorbell rang. He stood completely still, staring at the front door. His feet wouldn't take him any further.  
  
Sandy walked through the living room on his way to the front door. Placing his hand on Ryan's shoulder on the way, "It's going to be okay." Ryan could only swallow hard. Kirsten followed Sandy to the door, winking at Ryan as she went by. Little did either of them realize just how much this confrontation was going to affect Ryan.  
  
"Hell...o," Sandy stammered, opening the door to find two figures standing in the driveway. He recognized the woman immediately. It was Dawn, Ryan's Mom. She appeared to be just as nervous as Ryan. Shifting the yellow envelope in her hands, a forced smile twitching across her lips.  
  
"Hello Sandy," she finally said. Handing the envelope to Sandy she couldn't help but notice him eyeballing the person she came with. "Um, Sandy, this...this is AJ."  
  
"You brought AJ here? Do you really think that was a good idea?" Sandy interrogated.  
  
"She needed a ride and she wanted someone with her today. Despite what you think, this ain't easy for her either."  
  
Sandy decided he didn't like AJ from the word go. Now he could understand why Ryan wanted nothing to do with him. He only spoke two sentences to Sandy and he'd had enough of him too.  
  
The front door opened and Ryan walked out onto the steps. His attention was immediately drawn to AJ. He was the last person in the world he wanted tainting his new life.  
  
"Ryan, honey," his Mom muttered, trying to distract him. But Ryan's eyes were glued to AJ and the torturous smirk he had wrapped around his cigarette.  
  
"Didn't they tell you Ryan? We're here to take you home," AJ teased. "Right Mama?" Slapping Dawn in the arm he couldn't help but laugh at his own comment.  
  
Sandy and Kirsten stood stunned. Ryan looked as if he had just taken a right hook to the face. He kept blinking his eyes trying to fathom what was just said. When the information finally registered, he realized he didn't like what he heard. Turning on his heal he bolted back into the house and slammed the door.  
  
"Why did you say that to him?" Dawn whined, giving AJ a shove.  
  
Kirsten and Sandy exchanged a look while Dawn realized they were wondering if there was any merit to AJ's statement. "Oh no. No. He didn't mean it. Ryan is...better off here." This time her and AJ exchanged a look. Clearly, some things are better left unsaid, or at the very least, unexplained.  
  
By this time both Kirsten and Sandy were quietly stewing about what had just happened. The awkwardness on the driveway continued for a moment longer until Seth came outside.  
  
"Mom, can I talk to you for a moment?"  
  
"Not now Seth. I need a few minutes." Turning back to pair, she listened as Sandy instructed them about getting the papers filed in court and when she would receive her copies.  
  
"Mom this is really important."  
  
"Seth," Sandy interjected, "so it this. Just a minute longer. Please."  
  
Sighing out loud with disgust, he raised his arms and dropped them so they clapped against his legs. "Okay fine, but I thought Mom would want to know that Ryan is really sick."  
  
Everyone stopped in their tracks and turned to Seth.  
  
"What do you mean, sick?" Kirsten asked.  
  
"I mean really sick. He's in the downstairs bathroom, puking. A lot."  
  
"Oh my God!" Kirsten ran for the house slamming the front door behind her.  
  
"I told you it was important," Seth recoiled. Giving AJ a complete once over, he turned and disappeared into the house leaving Sandy and the gruesome twosome alone on the driveway.  
  
Running down the hall, Kirsten could hear Ryan coughing and gagging.  
  
"Ryan? Ryan?"  
  
Entering the bathroom she found him sitting on the floor with his head resting on his arm on the toilet seat. He raised his head in her direction to say something but quickly had to change his plans in order to keep his head over the toilet for another spell of gagging. Seth was right. He really was sick. Really sick. Anger grew inside Kirsten's stomach. She knew he was upset about his mom arriving today and her decision to bring AJ along was a mistake of biblical proportions. AJ's comment to Ryan was the last straw.  
  
"Ryan, it's going to be okay," she soothed.  
  
"You don't understand. You can't let them take me back there. I won't go back there."  
  
Kirsten grabbed a washcloth and soaked it with cool water. Ryan had made his way to the floor and was leaning against the vanity. Wiping his face, she tried her best to calm him down. "Shhh. It's going to be okay Ryan. It's not..."  
  
"He's going to hurt me!" Ryan interrupted. He spoke directly to Kirsten and for the first time, she saw his walls come down. His eyes filled with tears and he fought hard to keep his chin from shaking. "I don't want him to hurt me anymore. I don't want to be afraid anymore." A single tear slipped from his eye and Kirsten felt as if her heart had been ripped out and trampled.  
  
"Oh my God you believed him?" Kirsten whispered. Sitting herself on the floor in front of Ryan, she wrapped her arms around and held him tight. "Ryan you're not going anywhere. You're staying here with us. This is where you belong. No one is going to hurt you anymore. You're one of my boys now and nobody hurts my boys!" She stroked his hair and kept him close. He was holding her equally as tight. He wasn't ready to let go.  
  
"Ryan," a voice called from the doorway. "Are you okay? I didn't mean to upset you." It was Dawn. From the minute she started speaking, Ryan quieted his crying. Kirsten could feel his posture stiffen and his hands change to fists on her back, grabbing her sweater. He lowered his head burying his face in the front of her sweater. She could feel his heavy breathing. In only a matter of seconds, he rebuilt his walls and put on a tough face in front of his mother. Ironically, though, he showed no signs of letting go of Kirsten. If anything, his grip was even tighter than before.  
  
Continuing her embrace with Ryan, Kirsten turned to Dawn, "Maybe you should wait outside."  
  
"But...he's my son."  
  
The comment didn't sit well with Kirsten given everything that had happened that brought Ryan to her home in the first place not to mention the events that just took place on the driveway.  
  
"Actually Dawn, now he's my son. You told me to take good care of him. That he deserved it. Your waiting outside is what's best...for Ryan."  
  
Dawn stuck her tongue in her cheek. Those were her own words but somehow they stung coming from another woman. Tears filled her eyes and she left the room. Kirsten could feel a deep sigh escape from Ryan as they both heard the front door close.  
  
Another few minutes passes before Seth appeared at the bathroom door. "Hey man. Is there anything I can do for you? Get you a blanket, a glass of water...a gun?"  
  
Kirsten shot Seth a look at that last comment to which he shrugged his shoulders. "I'm just trying to help man."  
  
"A glass of 7-Up would be nice Seth. No ice until his stomach settles down a bit more."  
  
"Got it. One glass of 7-Up, hold the rocks." And off he went to the kitchen.  
  
After he left the bathroom, Ryan finally released Kirsten from his hold. Glancing at the door to make sure no one else was there, he wiped his eyes. "I'm sorry to be so much trouble," he said, keeping his eyes to the floor.  
  
"Oh Honey this isn't trouble. I would have been upset too. I don't know what your mom was thinking bringing him here today. And that comment he made couldn't be further from the truth."  
  
Raising only his eyes, he momentarily looked at her face before dropping them back down to the floor.  
  
"Besides, you can't leave. I'm not done hanging out with you yet," Seth added, re-entering the room, handing Ryan his glass of 7-Up. "I told you we'd go sailing. And, that I'd teach you to surf. Oh and there's that rematch you owe me on the playstation. Dude you're stuck here for a long time."  
  
Feeling a bit out of it, Ryan nodded and smiled at his glass.  
  
"Slowly Ryan. Just sips," Kirsten instructed getting up off the floor. "Do you feel well enough to go lay on the couch?"  
  
"Yeah, I think I'll be okay." Ryan responded, trying to brush off just how sick he'd been but it came back to bite him when he tried to stand up on his own. All that purging had left him weary and lightheaded and he started to fall. Luckily Seth was there to stop him from going all the way back down to the floor.  
  
"Whoa buddy! Maybe I better drive, what do you think?"  
  
"I think maybe..." Ryan said as Seth put Ryan's arm over his shoulder.  
  
Slowly they made their way to the living room couch. Kirsten had already propped up some spare pillows and gotten a blanket. She was making Ryan comfortable when Seth returned with an orange bowl and placed it on the coffee table in front of Ryan's head. Ryan looked quizzically at Seth.  
  
"That's the "P" bowl," he explained.  
  
Quickly shooting a look at Kirsten who was busy stretching a blanket out over him, "Seth I'm...I'm not going to...I can't..."  
  
Luckily Seth saved him. Laughing out loud he clarified his previous statement. "Oh no no no, that's not what I meant. "P" in your case stands for puke. It you were feeling better, maybe we'd fill it with popcorn, also a "P" word. But clearly you're not up for snacking at this time."  
  
Relieved with Seth's explanation, he laid his head down on the pillows and watched Kirsten snuggle the blanket around him. Reaching over to the end table, she picked up a snow globe. Sitting down on the edge of the couch next to Ryan, she wound the music box and set it down on the coffee table in Ryan's view.  
  
"My Grandmother used to always play a music box for me when I wasn't feeling well. There's something relaxing about it."  
  
Ryan turned onto this side to get a better look at the snow globe. He watched the figures moving inside. He didn't recognize the melody but there was certainly something soothing about it. It took a moment before he even realized that Kirsten was lightly rubbing his back.  
  
"Ah, the snow globe. You're a goner," Seth predicted. "See you when you return from Dreamland."  
  
Ryan smiled. His eyes did feel heavy and before he knew it, a yawn escaped. He found himself blinking longer and longer until he could no longer keep his eyes open. Somewhere between the music and the back rub, he fell sleep. 


End file.
